


Mack, Elena and the dog that got lost to make them find each other

by giorgiaink



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No SHIELD (Marvel), F/M, Meet-Cute, Shipper Daisy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28052178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giorgiaink/pseuds/giorgiaink
Summary: Becoming the museum curator was source of pride and happiness for Elena and she was working a lot to achieve her goals. Her only one regret was having to leave her beloved Pepe for so long.He is a little and very energic Jack Russell who knows exactly what kind of people he likes... and his dog sitter is not included.Mack, on the other hand, easily becomes one of his favourite human beings.
Relationships: Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie/Yo Yo Rodriguez, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Kudos: 6
Collections: AoS Topsy-Turvy Hallmark Holidays





	Mack, Elena and the dog that got lost to make them find each other

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by aosficnet2 hallmark prompt number 7: "A museum curator finds love during the holidays thanks to some matchmaking by their canine companion, who recently made a new friend."  
> I don't know how much hallmark-inspired the result sounds but I had to write this because the prompt was screaming Mackelena to me.
> 
> Also, please, remember I'm not an english native speaker so be clement but let me know if I wrote something wrong.

Becoming the museum curator was source of pride and happiness for Elena.  
She worked so hard to have that job, she studied, she published articles, she presented and talked at many conferences and worked on some other little museum before getting what she wanted.  
And in a couple of months she had already started to revolutionize everything, from the display of the items to the approach to the public.  
She was feeling like she was on a mission to bring both beauty and awareness, joy and shock, knowledge and curiosity. That was her mission and she was very happy with it, despite all the time all of this was taking from her life.  
Her only one regret was having to leave her beloved Pepe for so long.  
He is a little and very energetic Jack Russell and he definitely doesn't like to be alone. He could destroy her entire house in only a few minutes of loneliness and he already tried a couple of times when she was forced to go out for some emergencies. Thank God her cousin Francisco was willing to dog sit most of the time.  
And of course Pepe requires extra attentions on Christmas seasons.  
The year she had just adopted him and she was not fully aware of his energies yet, the Christmas tree had a very unpleasantly fate.  
So, when Francisco left for a couple of weeks out of town, she just knew she had to find a solution... both for the sake of the tree and probably of everything else in her house and because how much she loved her crazy dog. She just couldn't leave him alone.  
She was preparing a huge exhibition to attract tourists during the holidays, but she had almost everything already set. She was very optimistic about having a lot of free time during those days. 

"Francisco, I'm serious! It's okay. He's my dog, after all, I'm the one who needs to take care of him. And it's all set. I actually have free time now. You can relax."  
That was the umpteenth phone call from her cousin but she was finally convincing him she was not upset.  
When she got the phone off, she addressed Pepe.  
"You need to be a good boy while I work, okay? And then we can just hang out and have fun. You're not the only one load of energies." She winked at the little dog, who was cuddling on her knees and staring at her with love.

They went for a run in the early morning, then she left him with a dog sitter just for a couple of hours to go to work and make sure everything was in place.  
The new items of the exhibition were exactly where they needed to be and so were the informational panels. The room was ready for the opening and she had already invited a couple of potential donors.  
Everything was fine.  
Except that just one hour was already enough for Pepe to decide he didn't like the new dog sitter and he just couldn't wait and needed to go and search for Elena immediately.  
Just one moment and he was out of sight.  
Just one call and Elena knew she didn't like the new dog sitter either.  
"What do you mean you lost my dog?" 

-

Alphonso Mackenzie and his engineering team had just finished a major project, so they could have and deserved to spend the holidays between relax and fun.  
His colleagues had become his second family and he knew everyone was really happy with their recent success and excited to spend Christmas times together.  
They were eating street food and chatting when Mack got distracted by two big puppy eyes staring at him... or maybe at his hotdog to be fair.  
"Hey, buddy! Who are you?"  
He looked around searching for the potential owner but couldn't find any so he addressed the dog again.  
"Looks like you're all alone and hungry, aren't you?"  
He got a little yelp as an answer and the sound immediately caught everyone else's attention.  
"Oh, guys, look! Seems like Mack's made himself a new friend."  
Daisy had not finished the sentence yet and Fitz was already petting the little dog, quickly followed by Jemma.  
"Hi, little friend!" She was making a voice and caressing him and simultaneously checking if he was okay.  
"Oh, he's very well cared and he's wearing a nice collar. Apparently he's Pepe and he belongs with Elena Rodriguez."  
Pepe barked at her name but got distracted when Mack handed him a little piece of meat. He ate it and clearly tried to ask for more, barking and jumping and moving frenetically around Mack.  
He laughed.  
"Okay, buddy, calm down, I don't know if this is the kind of thing you can eat. We don't want to get you sick, we need to bring you back home."  
Not without difficulties, he stopped the dog's crazy jumping session and gestured Jemma to look again at the tag on the collar.

When they arrived at the address Elena was not at home. They assumed she was looking for him, and they were right. 

She looked in every park or place she knew Pepe liked and asked about him showing pictures at every hotdog vendor and some random people she met.  
She was getting extremely angry and she was repeating herself she was going to make sure that dog sitter regrets that forever, but deep down she knew if she stopped the anger, she would have been left with worry and guilt.  
When she finally ran out of places to check she realized she could just hope he found his way home or someone found him and read his tag.  
She hated the idea of just go home and wait but at that point she had to try.  


What she wasn't expecting was to find a group of strangers playing with her lost dog in front of her home.

"Pepe?"  
Her voice made everyone stop playing and Pepe redirected his run to jump into her arms.  
She was already on her knees waiting for him and she immediately hugged him laughing and mumbling something in spanish.  
When she looked up her eyes inevitably settled on the tall man standing just a few steps away and smiling warmly.  
"You must be Elena. I'm Mack and these are Daisy, Jemma and Fitz."  
She smiled and waved at everyone but couldn't help but give most of her attention to Mack.  
"Yes! Hi! Thank you so much for bringing him home, I searched for him everywhere. Where did you find him?"  
"Oh, it's more like he's the one who found us. He was hungry and we were eating hotdogs from a vendor a couple of streets from the museum."  
She shot Pepe a look. "The museum, really?"  
"Yeah, why?"  
"That's where I work. And I left him with a dog sitter right there this morning. Apparently he escaped just to come back where he last saw me."  
"Aw, that's sweet." Saying that, Daisy instinctively crouched to pet Pepe who finally left his owner's arms and got back to his normal vivacity.  
Elena laughed standing up.  
"Yes, he hides a sweet heart behind all that hyperactivity."  


They all kept talking for a while and Elena invited them to see the exhibition the next day.  
Mack looked particularly impressed as she tried to explain the beauty and importance of the museum's new pieces of art, describing everything with genuine passion and enthusiasm.  
He also tried really hard to keep the conversation going.  
  
Meanwhile, Pepe was really enjoying all that company and cuddles and looked particular intrigued by Mack and his stature.  
Every now and then he suddenly just started jumping around him, probably trying to reach his arms, but barking if he lowered to met him halfway.  
Then he eventually gave up, letting the man bend down to pet him.  
Elena was clearly enjoying the show but also trying to win Mack's attention back every time.  
And he was clearly into her too but didn't look fully aware of the situation, at least until Daisy gave him some very communicative glances.  
Obviously Elena noticed that too and realized simultaneously that she needed to be a bit clearer and that she had more than one ally.

When the group of friends was about to go and Pepe decided to hold Mack biting the edge of his trousers, she tried to apologise for her dog's behaviour and added a dinner invitation. "To properly thank you all for finding him", she said, and waited for Daisy's obvious answer.  
"Unfortunately the three of us have a thing tonight."  
Fitz looked confused for a moment but received a lot of explicative glances and decided he didn't need to ask. 

Lately that day, it was clear Mack had acquired consciousness and he definitely knew what to do with it and how to efficiently flirt back, without losing his natural sweetness and purity.

Just a few more hours together and they both realized they were about to live the most magical Christmas time ever.


End file.
